6 Stabbed to Death in Gage Park Were 'Calm People': Neighbor

CHICAGO, IL -- Neighbors in a quiet, melting pot neighborhood on the South Side crowded on porches and stood behind crime tape watching police and medical examiners go in and out of a house where six bodies were found Thursday afternoon.

A 911 call prompted Chicago Lawn 8th District police to visit a Gage Park home in 5700 block of South California Avenue after a co-worker called to say that a person living at the address had not shown up to work for the past two days.

• Also on Patch: Family, Including a Child, Stabbed to Death in South Side Home [UPDATE]

Police found four men, a woman and a boy believed to be between the ages of 10 and 12, with their hands bound behind their backs. All six appeared to have been stabbed to death several days ago.

“They were calm people,” said a woman who would only give her name as Nancy. “My parents have lived here 22 years and we’ve never had something like this happen before.”

Nancy and her husband had gone out to breakfast and then grocery shopping. When they came home around 2 p.m., the street was completely blocked. Nancy, whose home was directly adjacent to the crime tape, at first thought a random shooting had occurred.

“We were trying to figure out what was going on, we saw a lot of commotion up the street,” she said.

When she saw pictures of her street on news media Facebook pages, she turned on the TV news.

“When I found out I was like,” she said, making a gasping sound. “It’s sad. It’s shocking to hear this.”

Drawn to the scene by a news helicopter hovering overhead, Anthony Cordova, 14, his father, and younger brother Miguel had walked over after school to see what was happening.

“When I saw the helicopters, I got scared so we came over here,” Anthony said. “This is very bad for my neighborhood. It’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen.”

John Patrick and his friends were walking home from Gage Park High School, which had been on soft lockdown after the murders were discovered.

Patrick was trying to figure out how to get past the crime tape. His family’s house was on the same block where the bodies had been discovered.

“Our dean got on the intercom and said there was police activity,” Patrick said. “They told us to stay in our classrooms.”

Patrick’s friend, Brandon Bradley, who lives around the corner, said he always felt safe in the neighborhood.

“It’s a mainstream neighborhood,” Bradley said. “It’s shocking because you never think it’s going to happen over here.”

Aurora resident Greg Zanis, who erects crosses at major homicide scenes, said he got a call from a family member of the deceased.

“She asked me to come up put six white crosses up,” he said, looking over the crime tape. “I always do if I’m asked.”

Zanis said he knew the names of the deceased from the family member but didn’t want to give their names without her permission. Describing himself as a born-again Christian, Zanis said the nation has walked away from God.

“The social experiment they’re trying now is a failure,” Zanis continued. ”These little kids today aren’t being taught the Ten Commandments in school.”